Shopping in Vietnam
Vietnam has some fantastic shopping opportunities, so it’s well worth setting aside half a day or so to properly peruse. Hotspots include Hanoi, Hoi An and Ho Chi Minh City, each of which has a temping selection of everything from avant-garde art to sumptuous silk suits.
Some of the best buys are as following:
Vietnamese Art & Antiques
There are several shops to hunt for art and antiques. Both traditional and modern...
Telephone and Faxes network in Vietnam
Fixed telephone and fax
Provided by Vietnam Post and Telecommunication (VNPT) and Viettel;
Phone number code: Seven digits (for Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City only) and six digits (for other cities). Each city has its own code (city code), such as: 4 (Hanoi), 8 (Ho Chi Minh City), 54 (Hue) etc…
Mobile phones
Provided by VNPT, Viettel and some other state-owned companies, including:
GSM: Vinaphone (code: 91), Mobiphone...
Tips for Vietnam Domestic Flights & Internal Flights
Domestic flights
Domestic flight coverage is fairly good in Vietnam with frequent flights to lots of cities at reasonable price, and airfare can be easily altered.
Flight booking tips: It is recommended to book Vietnam Airlines flights with local travel agents because it is significantly more expensive to book domestic flights outside of Vietnam.
Vietnam Airlines is the dominant and exclusive air carrier on domestic Vietnam...
Important Vietnam Phrases
Pronunciations can vary within Vietnam (particularly northern vs southern). Following is the list of important and/or frequently used Vietnamese Phrases that one should remember before traveling to Vietnam:
English
Vietnamese
Pronunciation
Hello/Hi/
Good morning/
Good afternoon/
Good evening/
How do you do
Xin chào
seen chow
Thank you
Cảm ơn
Gahm un
Sorry
Xin lỗi
seen loy
I/ me
Tôi
toy
You
Anh/Chị
Ang...
Frequent Questions to answer
Frequent Questions to answer:
What credit cards do I need to take with me?
Take your major credit cards, such as, Visa, Master Card and American Express.
Make sure they are really credit cards and not just debit cards with a credit card company’s logo on them. Many locations require a credit card and will not accept a debit card, so they may have limited use on your travel.
Leave all your local store credit cards in...
Health equipment and Medical Items
No actual vaccinations are officially required. Malaria prophylaxis is no longer recommended but visitors are advised to check with their doctors or travel immunization clinics regarding the advisability of inoculation against typhoid, tetanus, hepatitis A & B.
Carry a medical kit with bandages, splints and the like. However, the leaders (tour guides) are not permitted to dispense personal medicines to clients. It...
Tips and Things to remember Before You Go
Bring as little as possible, Vietnam has pretty much anything you can find back home.
Necessary documents: your passport and visa (with their copies); 2 photos (3cmx4cm), tour dossier (tour itinerary, address of travel agent or travel company operator, contact number… ) and others (if needed).
Cash in US$5’s, US$10’s, US$20’s and US$100’s (US dollars are commonly acceptable)
All the soaps and smellies are...
Vietnam Money/Currency and Banks Money/Currency
Vietnam’s currency issued by the Vietnam State Bank is the Dong (VND), which is non-convertible. The Vietnamese use both coins and paper notes. But as Vietnam is currently changing its money system, there exists two different money systems (old and new) at the same time, which can cause confusion. Coins include VND 5,000; 2,000; 1,000; and 500. These values have paper note equivalences. The following values: VND 500,000;...
Vietnam Entry Visa Info
Tourist visas allow visitors to enter and exit Vietnam at Hanoi, Hochiminh City and Danang airports, or at any of its twelve land borders, of which three with Cambodia and China, and six with Laos.
Tourist visas are valid for a single 30-day stay. The Government often talks about issuing visas on arrival to certain favored nationalities. Arranging the paperwork for a Vietnamese visa has become fairly straightforward,...
First time to Vietnam – Vietnam Travel alerts
General
If this is your first time to Vietnam, there are several things that you may not have known, yet should be kept in mind. For clothes, please don’t pack few clothes and shoes. Though you can buy clothes here, none of it will fit you. Remember to bring lots of medicine, as there is some disease in Vietnam.
The Vietnamese love westerners, so be prepared for lots of questions. If you bring kids, they will be adored,...
